| Show SADDLE aPI RIDE by ER ERNEST NEST HAYCOX howlee SS wn w N U STORY SO 50 FAR FAB cuy clay morgan 11 hai 4 1 decided to play a ions ion hand against 8 ben Heren herendeen dees a rancher tent bent on run WAE alas the cattle country his own way the two knes have been enemies for lo ryean years having alln first arft fought over clays wile wife life who h died bating him and believing she file should have married herenden He mor moresa an li Is a solitary loll soll tary biguri devoted voted to his bli mine year om old daughter janet although two t women catherine catharine grant and aoa ann Ne Garrah are ar la in love with him they knew ike he r enact annot torget forget Us ula of 01 his former friends only hiek hack breathitt had dot gone over to 11 ren deens side ilde now lack hack la in dead shot by herendeen a forea foreman 14 c charley barley built 0 age 1 gurd grant catherines catherine brother J ened her eade badeen when he he discovered that catherine erine la had d ba been een to morgans Mor cani ranch but bat the cold blooded lood edness nesi ot of backs murder hu has mado mad him break with Hren herendeen deen warned by fox willing a ot okater ater he be ones once beirl befriended eded clay di s covers that berendena reade en li Is stealing his cattle he II 11 goes to ranch tor for a showdown b kit herendeen beats beat him to the bair ha be to li surrounded by heron here deens men inen a and D d there seem no DO way out w abea ben life LIE a white ona 0 I 1 H heren eren dai friends rides up uk 1 gard anid grant he ha it Is led up dp with high handed methods methodi risking his bli own lue aft to save lare day clay he persuades perua dei him to tube take chance athance OB an riding out of heron daens eal raach each he bann 1 I think horse berea af will daz daie a to shoot now continue with the story CHAPTER XVI it was still close and risky as they both knew morg morgan swapped a short glance with the smiling white seeing a thorough understanding in the batters lat eyes morgan made the decision for both of them at this moment turning his horse squarely on herendeen the movement pulled white around and thus the two of them holding their horses to a walk passed down the yard in a silence that had bad no bottom the river road bent aro around und a point reaching this points point ready to turn it and shut the three pines ranch house from sight morgan had his big back backward waid glance herendeen and ills his m men a were in the saddle heading tol the Hay Haye Creek reek hills they were going after the beef morgan knew lige white came abreast clay im M ashamed to say it but I 1 ive ve trung strung along with ben no not liking been going on around me I 1 stul still do not like it but I 1 cannot tolerate e this ki kind n d of a war keep away from him the abo mans gone one crazy 1 A little late now said morgan theres meres a fight coming bens made up his mind and so have L stay out of it lige and see if you can get gurd curd to do the same digs white said with the greatest reluctance 1 I have hated to see tats day come 11 A long time coming said morgan and put his horse to the slope lige white watched him climb excitement mirroring brightly in his hl yes afterwards he continued along the road bound for gurd grants pete borders who had driven the long seven seven beef across the hay creek hills to Heren deens range lay on a peak of the ridge throughout the middle of the day he saw morgan arrive at the meadowland meado wand grinned to himself at what was no doubt in morgans mind it looked like an open steal on Heren herendeen deens part pam which wa was the way borders wanted i it to look later when he saw morgan headed e d for Heren deens alone pete borders border grew serious and a little restless it was he conc concluded 1 eded bad tactics on morgans part and so 0 o taking to his horse he be went along the Hay creek hills until he be was able to sight the three pines ranch from the heights he made out oat the crowd in the 7 yard ard and wa watched ached the parley later he be saw a new rider come along which was lige white and saw two of them ride away morgan had got out of it with a whole skin which relieved borders immeasurably As soon as morgan left lige white he turned his horse to the slope elope of the Hay creek hills and presently from a high point he saw herendeen leave the valley with his bis crew morgan calculated his margin of advantage to be about twenty minutes and entered the timber at a fast clip he caught up with his outfit a mile or two beyond the swamp the cattle w were e re single ille file going very slowly y oo 00 the crooked trail and stretched out tor for three or tour four hundred yards Cay Vermilye was in front of them beyo beyond nd sight fox willing held the rear car with harry jump still farther back to cover whatever might come up harry jump was a little edgy with the strain of this thing he showed relief at morgans presence 1 I been on the verge of back after you half an hour behind me were apt to have a scrap hell with lem em said harry jump t once lets stop and have hav 8 it out ut keep right on going fox cut head and ride with cap if you hear beat any ruckus back here join us it you meet iny anything thing in fronts front let out a yell and well be right with you fox unable to crowd by the beef on so 10 narrow a way rut out through the umber and rough slab rock with considerable difficulty harry jump began to grumble at the lagging catie ie crowding them with his bis pony morgan dropped baik back a distance to watch the trall trail W ai ithe made out the crowd in the yard and watched the parley they came at last to the stage road and turned into it from the swamp warn meadow to this point had bad been more than an hours drive and herendeen was long overdue leading morgan to believe that herendeen had circled them the tha trouble then would come when they reached the open country he joined harry jump both of them hazing the stragglers forward until the beef was in a compact bunch vermilye and willing were fifty yards forward now and then a cow wandered toward the jack pine forest surround surrounding ding them and bad to be cut back at five they reached the bottom ot of the stage road left the pines and swung north toward Gov government emment valley three miles distant herendeen was nowhere to be seen whereupon harry jump came to his suspecting conclusions ile he want to try it in timber hes waltin tor for us to get in the middle ol of the flats my idea Is that hes watch in us from the potholes potholed Pot holes right now A similar thought had occurred to vermilye he trotted back to morgan now in case he comes a bust in out of the brush clay we better just let this beef go and hit tor for them agency buildings no said jump at once its if our beet beef by god right said morgan joined harry jump both efthem ot them urging the cattle along at a quicker gait morgan closely watched the back trail not quite able to understand Heren deens continued delay the me suspense worked on his nerves once thinking he be saw movement at the edge dge ot of the potholes potholed Pot holes he ha turned and made a stand searching the black margin ot of that country quite carefully he had been mistaken however arid and presently turned to catch up with the beet beef near six with the sun down beyond the cache mountains they threw the beef on their own grass near the shattered dobe buildings of the old agency morgan said hold this jag in a bunch were not through yet I 1 want herendeen to see cee what we took fox if I 1 were you I 1 think id pull freight thanks for comin along willing said idly might as well stick around cap vermilye e always a forehanded man got a few sage stems and a piece of old board from the nearest building to make up a ore fire he had bad a trying frying pan and coffeepot in his bis saddle roll roil and some bacon and a can 0 of f beans he boiled up the cot cof fee tried the bacon and heated the beans in the trying pans grease having n no 0 other utensils they took turns at the frying crying pan using their pocket knives and drank the coffee straight from the pot at seven with shadows sweeping across moguls plateau a single horseman appeared on the high edge of mogul mountain and quartered down this was in the west from which morgan expected no trouble harry jump walked deliberately to his horse and pulled out his winchester morgan said hold on harry rider and horse plodded unhurriedly through the blue swirl of dusk a long stooped shape on a rawboned animal at a distance he waved his arm overhead and a little litile tle later morgan recognized the nester gale gale came up but did not dismount until morgan gave him the proper invitation when the invitation came he dropped to the ground with an old mans stiffness h he e poised both hs his hands over the in muzzle uz of his ancient gun and looked 0 ked out from beneath him big twisted awn ing shaped eyebrows theres some coffee left in the pot said morgan just abut I 1 deed need gale answered he slouched over the ore fire and tipped the pot against his hi mouth drinking with an acute thirst coffee ran down the seams of his bis jaws he said ah in great relish and sponged the liquid froin the tips lips of his mustache with sidewise mo motions eions of nil his tongue morgan said dont mean to be unfriendly but maybe you ought to move on G gale ale smile he was past tho the point of finding amusement la in the world but in his bli eyes was wai a light like the last glow flow of coals of a dying fire dont you worry about me mr morgan it if I 1 know I 1 wanted to do I 1 be here morgan shrugged his shoulders your funeral it may be agreed gale corn com Do sedly but if so it will be a double one at my aga age im too old to worry about ayin for or it is pretty close to me at any event and I 1 guess im poor enough not to fret about losin anything he rummaged his bis pockets producing pipe and tobacco morgan watched him fill the pipe and light it it and settle on his heels this was late september and suddenly slightly beyond seven e 1 0 a k the blue running shadows turned t e d to gunmetal gun metal gray and afterwards to full fall night the haze of autumn lay over the land through this filtered a strong creating the effect of woolly clouds banked against the earth morgan led his horse to the remnant wall of the nearest dobe building and walked on until he stood alone facing the open south fox willing was in the saddle circling the held bunch of beeves the job was done and as far as the cattle were concerned there any need of staying here yet morgan knew that this waiting was necessary herendeen was somewhere in the yonder night the big man had bad avoided a meeting in the timber be had delayed this pursuit but he be was out there and he would come nothing changed much morgan realized herendeen had faced him for ten years never giving ground never able to forget it was tome some thing that would not dim or die it was a force that drove herendeen thinking about that morgan admit ted the same force drove mm him whatever the outward reasons whatever the open quarrels and excuses there was a deeper reason still the native chemical animosities an im 0 S I 1 ti es of 0 f two men bora to be opposite la in all things born to collide and to destroy it was past explanation stationed like this apart from the group and facing southward he be beard herendeen at last approach bidden by the pulsing fog off there a steady rhythm rose of horses moving at a slow run and presently slowing to a walk shadows appeared in the fog and shapeless outlines fox willing came in from the herd dismounting and putting his horse near the dobe wall he walked over to morgan vermilye and jump had risen and had taken position not far from the wall gale was out of sight Heren deens party showed as a wide scatter of shadows on the desert they were halted two hundred feet away herendeen said morgan im coming in to cut that bunch of stock and look it over for my brand morgan said none of your cows in it ben ill see tor for myself those shadows were too vague to be counted but morgan knew herendeen had at least eight men around him and he be also knew Heren herendeen deens intention which was to build up a fight on any grounds he said charley hillhouse HUl house there no im coming in morgan said nothing here for you ben stay back Heren deens voice boomed out 1 you know the rules of the country its my privilege to cut any mans range for my stock I 1 claim theres three pines cows in that bunch it if there are said morgan coolly ill send them back tomorrow 1 I want em now youre you re in a hurry all of a sudden pointed out morgan ironically 1 I sent word to you some time ago to clean your stuff out of this valley and you seem to figure it worth your time so you can wait another day you wont cut this bunch tonight or any time get off of my grass you goin against the rules you been making the rules is a long time ben now IU ill make lem em 11 herendeen said ive listened to you long enough well settle this now morgans reply was soft anil and flat in the night let ler er nicker bicker ben when you move in we start shoot in im he ha beard herendeen say come ou on boys TO 70 BE CONTINUED |
